It’s no fluke: the same three players reached the French Open semifinals last year on clay, proving they can win just about anywhere. Djokovic also reached the Wimbledon semifinals and was runner-up to Federer at the U.S. Open.

U.S. flags were outnumbered by Swiss ones on a perfect night for tennis, and Federer had to be nearly perfect to beat Blake, who used his powerful forehand, often running around his backhand, to keep the Swiss star from taking control of points as much he prefers.

“He’s such a great player and he made some incredible shots,” Federer said. “He’s improved a lot in the last two years. It’s always a pleasure playing him.”

This was high-quality tennis, and the fans in packed Rod Laver Arena were on the edge of their seats as neither player gave an inch.

The two players exchanged early breaks in the first two sets. With a tiebreaker looming in the first, Federer set up a break point as Blake served at 5-6 with a forehand volley winner, and Blake then sent a forehand long on the next point.

The pattern was similar in the second set. Blake saved two set points while serving at 4-5 and three more after falling behind, 6-2, in the tiebreaker. But there are only so many escapes possible against Federer, who finally cashed his sixth set point on a service Blake couldn’t get back.

Federer was cruising at 5-1 in the third set when Blake, refusing to yield, ran off three straight games. Federer finally held to finish it off.

Djokovic started to lose his nerve toward the end against Ferrer, yelling at the crowd for shouting while he tried to serve.

“There’s no excuse for that. I was very nervous and was behaving very badly, I’m very sorry about that,” he later said. “Sometimes it’s hard to control our emotions on the court. I’m very happy to get through.”

Djokovic completes a set of Grand Slam semifinals appearances, his best performance remaining his run to the U.S. Open final.

With a group of teenage girls squealing when he won big points, Djokovic was at his best, pounding his big serve and mixing up his baseline game.

He had Ferrer constantly on the run and moaning when he had to sprint in for a number of well-disguised drop shots. The Spaniard had only four winners to 11 unforced errors in the 23-minute first set as Djokovic won 28 points to his 11.

About the only distraction came early in the first set when it appeared that a wailing baby disrupted Djokovic’s concentration during a point. “Please give our crying friend a bottle,” Chair umpire Steve Ullrich announced.

Ferrer picked up his game in the second set and had double break point as Djokovic served at 2-2. But the Serbian ripped three aces and another serve that never came back to finish off the threat, then broke in the next game and held serve the rest of the set.

Ferrer fended off four match points while serving at 3-5 in a game that went to deuce seven times, then finally converted a break point for the first time in eight attempts to get back on serve in the third.

Djokovic quickly quashed any thoughts of a comeback, breaking Ferrer to go ahead, 6-5. After showing some nerves to fall behind at 30-40, he finished with an ace, an overhead winner and a backhand pass than landed on the baseline.

Serbia has a population of 10 million — half the size of Australia, which has zero home players left here, and not much more than New York City. Despite a shortage of facilities it is producing a lot of budding tennis players, just like the rest of Eastern Europe.

Ivanovic had never won a set off Williams in four previous meetings, including the semifinals at Wimbledon and the fourth round at the U.S. Open. But she has improved her fitness dramatically, and it showed against Williams, who put in another lackluster performance and had her left thigh heavily taped.

“I was looking forward for some revenge,” said the 20-year-old Ivanovic. “I’m just so, so happy I managed to step up and keep my composure.”

Neither player showed any respect for the other’s serve. The first set had six consecutive breaks, with Ivanovic hitting several winners off returns and Williams shaking her head and sighing after her 21 unforced errors.

“I was really happy I managed to break her,” Ivanovic said. “But then my serve was a little bit shaky.”

Williams picked up her game dramatically to start the second set, jumping out to a 3-0 lead. She was really pounding the ball, her grunts of exertion sounding nearly like screams.

Ivanovic refused to wilt. She broke back, then ran off the last three games, rallying from 15-40 as she served for the match.

“I have to give a lot of credit to her,” Williams said. “She played really well, made a lot of good shots. She’s definitely improved on everything in her game. That’s really what it takes at this level. You want to keep improving and playing, because we’re all improving.”

The Williams sisters have 14 singles majors between them, but their one-time dominance on women’s tennis is under serious challenge.

“There’s been a lot of talk every single year,” Venus Williams said. “I think what’s important to me is what goes on in my head. I have full expectations and aspirations to continue to play high-quality tennis and to continue to be a champion.

“And I think Serena and I, we don’t have anything to prove. We get out there and we play our best … I don’t get too caught up in what the next person thinks.”

Hantuchova had not been to the second week of a Grand Slam tournament since her quarterfinal exits at three consecutive majors, ending with a loss to Venus Williams in the Australian Open in 2003.

“It feels great. I kept fighting for every point, even in matches I wasn’t playing very well,” she said. “I kept believing I could do it, and here I am.”

Fifth-seeded Sharapova, who struggled with a shoulder problem for most of last season, started returning to her best at the WTA championships in November before losing in three sets to Henin in 3 hours, 24 minutes – among the dozen longest women’s tour matches in the Open era.

She turned the tables in only 1:38 on Tuesday, ending Henin’s 32-match winning streak, 6-4, 6-0. It was the first 6-0 set on Henin since 2002.

“I really felt like I was in a bubble,” said Sharapova, a part-time Manhattan Beach resident. “I think it was one of the most consistent matches where I did all the things I wanted to do, and I did them correctly from the beginning to the end … and just played the way I can play.

“Even though I beat Justine, it’s definitely not over,” she added. “I still have a lot of business to take care of.”

Henin, who struggled with her serve and was broken five times by Sharapova, said she had a minor concern over a lingering knee injury but put the end of her winning streak down as an inevitability.

Sharapova, going for winners and keeping Henin on the run with deep, stinging groundstrokes, rushed to a 3-0 lead in the first set. Henin broke Sharapova as she served for the first set at 5-3, only to be broken on a pair of backhand winners in the next game by the Russian.

With little going right for Henin, Sharapova rushed through the second set, ripping 15 winners to only five unforced errors.

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